The most infectious prion protein particles

From Nature Volume 437 Number 7056 pp169-294

The prospects of limiting the spread of transmissible spongiform encephalopathies such as Creutzfeldt−Jakob disease depend in part on identifying the most infectious forms of the prions that carry the diseases. A study of modified scrapie prions shows that clusters of 14 to 28 prion proteins are the most infectious and that clusters of less than six molecules have virtually no infectivity. That could have implications for the treatment of diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's, characterized by deposition of prion-related amyloid fibrils. It's possible that efforts to alleviate symptoms by destabilizing these large protein aggregates might make things worse by producing smaller, more infective particles. Two other papers in this issue tackle fundamental aspects of the biology of prions and amyloid fibrils. The conversion of the yeast protein Sup35 to its prion form does not need to happen during the synthesis of Sup35 — mature and fully functional molecules can readily join a prion seed. This remodelling of the mature protein is accompanied by the immediate loss of its activity. And a study of a 'designed' amyloid fibril made from ribonuclease A reveals that amyloid containing native-like molecules can retain enzyme activity. This involves a domain swap with the neighbouring protein, and supports the 'zipper-spine model' for -amyloid structures.